Month: April 2013

I’ve always loved the Edwardian time period, Edwardians, and especially Edwardian men. So, when writing a story about domestic staff and their liaisons, setting it in the first decade of the twentieth century was, for me, a no-brainer.

The Total-E-Bound anthology which features my story, ‘In Service to the Senses’, is due out on 7 June. The anthology is entitled ‘At Your Service’ and contains five other fabulous stories, all featuring threesomes and domestic staff who take the meaning of service to an entirely different level. My story will also feature in a stand alone edition due out later.

This will be the first story I’ve had published longer than about 5000 words. It’s about 15000 words and it’s my first published piece where I’ve been able to take more time developing character.

Basically, it’s Debauched Downton. It’s roughly the same time period and features a valet, a frustrated Countess and a footman. *wicked grin* Oh, and tight livery. And romance. And … that’ll do for now.

I’m thrilled to welcome my very first guest blogger, Nicole Gestalt. Nicole kindly invited me onto her blog the other day, so it’s great to return the favour. Like me, Nicole has a story in Smut Alfresco. Her story, When the Rains Come, is set in Africa and is a fresh and gorgeous take on the outdoor theme. Do read!

As I am relatively new to the published world of erotica, I asked Nicole to discuss how she got into writing and, specifically, writing erotica.

So, over to Nicole!

–xox–

What got me into writing erotica?

A long time ago I became ill and found myself in the situation of having to relearn how to write. I had to take English lessons to learn the alphabet and began to learn all the way from the beginning. Eventually these English lessons got into creative writing and using your imagination, for one exercise we were asked to read a single sentence and then carry it on as if it was the beginning of a story. Needless to say I enjoyed that exercise so much I turned up with four versions of a story!

Whilst this was going on to boost my reading skills I took a position doing book reviews, it was there that things fell into place. Upon reading three particular books (Amulet of Fate by Angela Ashton, Journey from the Keep of Bones by Michelle Miller Allen and Zinna by Kira Chase) I found myself in a world of emotions and with the sudden understanding that words could be incredibly powerful – from that point on I knew I wanted to write. One thing led to another and in less than a year I found myself with a publishing contract and a lot of words under my belt (oh and chocolate cake, there is always chocolate cake involved every time I get a new contract).

It’s been a bit of a whirlwind since that point and whilst I do also write in genres other than erotica my main bulk of publications have been erotica, and I absolutely love it! I love the idea of telling a story whilst weaving the most basic of human emotions into it, I like to be open and talk about everything so for me erotica is the perfect medium and I really hope my readers enjoy reading my books as much as I do writing them.

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Nicole Gestalt has been writing erotica for many years. When Nicole is not writing she loves spending her time with her partner, walking and drinking lots of mochas, particularly if they have whipped cream on top. Nicole loves hearing from her readers and can be found at http://www.nicolegestalt.blogspot.com

Today sees my first appearance as a guest blogger. The lovely Nicole Gestalt, whose story, ‘When the Rains Come’, also features in Smut Alfresco, invited me over to her place to discuss my story, Into the Woods. Do head over and have a read:

And here I’m talking about being too wordy. Prolixity. (I just stuck that in to show off. I only found out what it means five minutes ago.)

When you learn about writing you are encouraged to describe, to bring to life images and places and scenes through vibrant word painting. You read rich, elaborate descriptions by great novelists and you think, ‘I have to be like that.’

It took me a while to realise that, no, sometimes I don’t have to be like that. And when it comes to erotica, it’s often better if it isn’t like that.

Fair enough, there are times when you do need to be more verbose and indulgent in order to imbue the scene with a rich sensuality. But when it comes to creating an effective mind picture for your reader, sometimes less is indeed more. The urgency of sex needs to be reflected in the urgency of the writing.

The terminology we use in erotica is a good example. When I first started writing, posting my pieces nervously on the internet, feeling I lacked identity as a writer, I strove to find many different terms for anatomical parts. I used them all.

Take, for example, the cock.

I’ve used a few of these in my time: love shaft, pole, handle, manhood, meat and even … penis (how flaccid can you get?).

It took me a while to call a cock a cock.

Cock is one of the most satisfying and wonderful words in the English language (second only to fuck) – why waste it?

Let’s just take a moment to savour it – CO – CK

Go on. Say it out loud. You know you want to. And it feels so good.

Not only does the word itself trip off the tongue and teeth so perfectly, it also sounds appropriate. It’s almost onomatopoeic, if you can have onomatopoeic nouns.

The same is true for sex generally. There will be genres and situations which require a different style, but, essentially, I’d rather call it as it is.

Here’s a little extract. I wish I had more published works to choose from. In my amateur incarnation I have hundreds of thousands of words, but I’m still a fledgling with regard to bona fide publishing. Anyway, this roughly fits the bill; there’s little beating around the bush here. (What?)

It’s from my story, ‘Willing Spirit, Hungry Flesh’, published by Xcite Books in the Santa’s Hot Secrets anthology (also to be found in A Seasonal Victorian Spanking). In it, we meet Emma, who has taken herself off to an isolated cottage at Christmas. She’s not alone for long – the cottage is haunted. But the ghost of the World War One army officer who appears is gorgeous and pleasingly palpable. Emma is only too happy to welcome him in.

If his dominance surprised her, she didn’t question it. She wouldn’t argue with this officer. Strong hands tugged her over and pushed her shoulders onto the bed, propelling her arse high in the air.

She could hear his breathing rapid and fast behind her and the slicking of his hand over his cock as he primed it for entry.

‘It’s going to be hard and fast this time, Emma. I can’t hold back.’

‘Just fuck me.’

Gripping her hips hard in his hands, Harry positioned his cock and thrust. The air was expelled from her with a grunt. He had filled her to the hilt in one go, forcing her into the pillows. ‘Do it again.’

He did. Pulling back, almost falling out, he ploughed back into her with a primal moan. ‘Hell, you’re tight. Fuck! That is glorious!’

Emma grinned. Even if he was an Edwardian officer and a gentleman, she could still break his composure.

I know, I know, it’s April and this is set at Christmas, yes, but that’s not particularly significant to the story. And anyway, if you’re in Britain, it’s still so fucking cold that it may as well be midwinter!

When it comes to writing erotica, we need it in shedloads – or should that be bedloads? – as, like I mentioned before, the actual coming together of bodily parts can get a bit, well, samey, after a while. It’s not the detail of the event but the event itself which lends the eroticism, not that the details can’t be belly-churningly appealing in themselves.

Age differences, class differences, work conflicts, social conflict, hierarchical mismatches … when it comes to sex, it’s a turn on. And that’s my inspiration.

I’ll admit, I’m not that interested in writing sex between two free, single people of the same age who see each other, fancy each other and take it from there. Where’s the erotic tension in that?

I read a fun little story the other day which had a fantastic illicit premise. One of the characters is an authority figure over the other in a historical setting, all of-age and consenting. It uses the premise to lead into some naughty and contextually believable spanking. All in all, it was pretty scorching. But right at the end it turned out to be role-play and the two characters were actually a modern, married couple. This is a common way of avoiding any overly dodgy situations in erotica, this or the ‘it was all a dream’ opt out. Excuse me while I run away screaming. You may as well dunk me in a cold bath.

There are ways of maintaining the moral acceptability of a dynamic without having to completely annihilate the illicit element. I don’t mean you have to write situations which could land everyone in hot water. Yes, illicit can mean illegal, but it can also mean something which is simply frowned on or disapproved of. I’m not talking about wildly flouting the law, but flouting expectation and convention. This is, presumably, one of the reasons BDSM literature is so popular – you can construct acceptable, consenting, often romantic relationships with the immediate enhancement of something still regarded as unconventional and, in the minds of many, illicit.

Written erotica allows us to push our imaginings and our fantasies. And, after all, if we can’t stretch our fantasies in print where no real person is being exploited, where can we stretch them?

Writing is not my main job. More’s the pity. That would be … something else.

And recently that something else has been horrific. While the horror of it was played out, I snatched little moments here and there to write, but nothing major.

But then – huzzah! – holidays happened, and since then I’ve managed to write and write and write.

And it feels so good.

*happy sigh*

There has been news. Very Good News. News which I can’t yet share but which made my little Easter bunny ears very perky.

On a specific note, I was writing, amongst other things, a blow job scene. I’ve written a fair few of those before, both as an amateur and published writer. I sort of panicked – could I do it again? Make it sound original and fresh? After all, there are only so many ways one person can wrap their mouth around another person’s willy.

But – yes! It worked, and it worked because of the situation, not because of the monumentally different descriptions of tongues and tips and lips and leaks – but because of the new situation and the new characters and the dynamic.

Making erotica work isn’t about detailing sex in a highly original, descriptive way (although I’ll always strive for a fresh approach to that too) but about an exciting, believable premise and a tension ridden situation to start with. What follows will inevitably be gobbled up (every pun intended) if you’ve paved the way properly.